One young man was reportedly hit in the head by a rubber bullet and lost consciousness before being rushed to the hospital

Angry protests outside of Hong Kong’s legislative building descended into chaos on Wednesday afternoon with police declaring the situation a “riot” while using tear gas, pepper spray, water cannons, and even rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators.

Protesters began surrounding the Legislative Council building on Tuesday night ahead of a planned debate on a controversial extradition bill which would allow criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. As tens of thousands jammed the streets of Hong Kong, the debate was postponed, however, protesters have shown no signs of backing down, demanding that the bill be withdrawn completely.

A tense standoff between protesters and police finally broke out into violence by the afternoon as demonstrators crashed through barricades and police fired tear gas into the crowd which caused many protesters to retreat only to soon return back to the front lines. Some even managed to barge into the Legco building itself, causing riot police to fire tear gas and smoke bombs inside the building.

Police have also fired bean bag rounds and rubber bullets at the crowd of protesters. A video has been shared on Twitter of one of the protesters being hit in the face with a rubber bullet. It’s been reported that the man was a driver for Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK. He was rushed to the hospital and has since regained consciousness.

Hong Kong police chief Stephen Lo has defended the use of beanbag shells and rubber bullets against protesters, calling the clashes a “riot situation,” a classification which could have major ramifications for any of the protesters that are arrested, and declaring that his officers had “no choice” when faced with protesters armed with iron bars and bricks. Meanwhile, Lo ruled out the possibility of calling in the Chinese military for assistance.

Observers are already referring to these protests as the “Umbrella Movement 2.0,” referencing the iconic political movement that ground Hong Kong to a standstill for 79 days in 2014 as protesters demanded the right to elect their own leaders. However, some participants have been quoted as saying this latest demonstration is even more “intense.” At no point during the Umbrella Revolution did police declare a riot.

Check out more images and videos of the insanity below.

There is usually never a line at the train ticketing machines. Judging from an overheard convo, it appears that people are reluctant to use their rechargeable Octopus cards for fear of leaving a paper trail of them having been present at the protest. pic.twitter.com/s1rsgSnCqL